Part 9 of our stripped down look at Amoris Laetitia with some commentary by PopeWatch:
241. Separation in marriage can sometimes be warranted, but must always be viewed as a last resort.
242. Pastoral care must be shown to the separated, abandoned or divorced, especially those unjustly separated, abandoned or divorced.
243. It is important that those who have entered into new marriages not be “discriminated” against by the Church. (Probably the most foolish section thus far in the Exhortation. The Church constantly discriminates in regard to people based upon their conduct and beliefs. The Church should be far above the secular pieties currently in vogue at any particular time and place during her passage through this Vale of Tears.)
244. Speed up the annulment process and make it free of charge. (Wink, the fix is in when it comes to Catholic divorce annulments.)
245. Bad impact of divorce and separation on kids. (It teaches them early on that you can’t rely upon anyone in this Vale of Tears.)
246. For this reason, Christian communities must not abandon divorced parents who have entered a new union, but should include and support them in their efforts to bring up their children. “How can we encourage those parents to do everything possible to raise their children in the Christian life, to give them an example of committed and practical faith, if we keep them at arm’s length from the life of the community, as if they were somehow excommunicated? We must keep from acting in a way that adds even more to the burdens that children in these situations already have to bear!” (Translation: “Ignore the clear command of Christ. Do it for the kids!” This is a very mendacious argument. I have never heard of priests “discriminating” against the children of the divorced or those born out of wedlock. I have seen priests make extra efforts to make sure that such kids get to Church and catechism. The idea that there are hordes of priests busily visiting the sins of the parents on kids is a typical example of beliefs that the Pope firmly clings to which simply are not true in reality.)
247. Mixed marriages between Catholic and non-Catholic.
248. More on that subject.
249. Pauline privilege.
250. Don’t “discriminate” against gays. (Yeah, because the huge influx of gays into the priesthood has done such manifest good for the Church. Once again, the Pope may or may not be a loyal son of the Church, but he is certainly a loyal son of the Sixties.)
251. No to gay marriage.
252. Single parent families must receive support and encouragement from the Church.
253. When a loved one in a family dies, grieving members of a family need the light of Faith in such dark times.
254. The Pope understands the grief of those mourning a death. He noted Christ weeping at the death of Lazarus.
255. Faith in Christ conquers death. (The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord! Job 1 : 21.)
256. “For the life of those who believe in you Lord is not ended but changed.”
257. Pray for the dead.
258. Memento mori.
Chapter Seven-Towards a Better Education of Children
259. Parents as moral teachers of their children.
260. Parents have a great duty to perform as the teachers and guardians of their children.
261. Don’t be a helicopter parent.
262. Raising kids is a difficult and complex task.
263. Schools can be useful for parents, but they can never rely upon schools to be the moral educators for their kids.
264. Parents are responsible for helping their children train their wills.
265. A good ethical education includes showing a person that doing what is right is in their own interest. (In regard to this Vail of Tears doing what is right is frequently not in the interest of the person called upon to do right. Doing right is often inconvenient, a nuisance, and occasionally dangerous. Arguing that doing right is always in the interest of the person called upon to do right is simply not true, except to someone who believes firmly in a just God who rewards virtue after death, or those who like to be able to shave or apply makeup and look directly into the mirror.)
266. Good habits of behavior need to be developed in children.
267. Freedom without virtue is worthless.
268. Children need to learn that bad behavior has consequences. (The sainted mother of PopeWatch was a grandmaster at this.)
269. Children need to be lovingly corrected.
270. Disciplining of children should not lead to their discouragement.
More tomorrow.
” It is important that those who have entered into new marriages not be “discriminated” against by the Church.”
Am I beyond help because I view Christ’s own impeccable choice to discriminate when he dares to call some of us, “My sheep?” Discrimination is most often the path to paradise.
246 is another straw man the pope lines up in front of the firing squad (so much for being anti-death penalty). Who is saying we should shun people in these objectively adulterous relationships? This is completely different than not admitting them to the sacraments because they choose to remain in a state that renders the reception of the sacraments sacreligious.
Principles must be judged. Persons must be tolerated. Toleration does not mean indulgence. The sodomite has in an act of his free will of his sovereign personhood chosen sodomy for himself. The Little Sister of the Poor has in an act of free will of her sovereign personhood chosen consecrated virginity to The Supreme Sovereign Being, God, for herself. Obamacare does not endow virginity, sovereign personhood or unalienable human rights and may not impinge on the Little Sister’s consecrated virginity. Two identical acts of the free will of the sovereign personhood of the citizen. No, the Little Sister does not forfeit her citizenship when she consecrates her virginity. The Little Sister’s vows are accepted by her bishop and the Pope himself validates the Little Sister’s congregation. The same act different consequences.